Storage-reservoir



. 1 I /4 40 W \30 /0 32* 22 I I i I '1" Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

UNITED STATES JOHN J. ALLINSON, 0F BARTLESVILLE, OKLAHOMA.

STORAGE-RESERVOIR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented N 23, 1920,

Application filed August 12, 1918. Serial No. 249,393.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN JosnPH ALLIN- sort, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Bartlesville in the county of VVashington, State ofjlklahoina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStorage-Reservoirs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to storage reservoirs and more particularly toreservoirs for storing crude petroleum oil.

Heretofore it has been the practice to store oil as it is pumped from aWall in steel storage tan rs. These steel tanks generally rest upon theground so that all portions of the tank except the bottom are OETPOSBtlto the heat of the sun. The heat evaporates the oil in the tanks, andalthough the tanks may have tight covers, the evaporation loss is veryhigh because the tanks have to be vented toprevent an excess gaspressure in the tanks and to avoid explosions.

In the California oil fields, oil has been stored in concrete linedreservoirs. These reservoirs are located below the surface of the groundso that the suns heat acts only upon the surface of the oil in thereservoir. The reservoirs are provided with covers, but owing to thelarge dimensions of the reservoirs, the covers were not made gas-tightand are not sealed at the junction of the covers with the reservoir.With this type of reservoir, the loss by evaporation is less than theevaporation in steel tanks but the character of the reservoir cover hasbeen such that the from evaporation is very high.

The object of the present invention is to provide a reservoir in whichoil or volatile liquids may be effectively stored and. which willovercome the objections above noted.

With this and other objects in view, the invention consists in theimproved oil storage reservoir hereinafter described and claimed.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1, is a partial. plan view withparts broken away of a storage reservoir embodythat type of concretelined reservoirs having a depth of from 30 to 40feet, a diameter of 300to 400 feet or more, and is capable of holding from 300,000 to 800,000barrels of oil. In the preferred construction ofthe reservoir, thereservoirbasin is located below the surface of the ground and the banksof the reservoir are formed with the earth which is excavated to formthe basin. The. basin 10 is preferably circular in shape having areinforced concrete floor 12 and a reinforced concrete sloping side wallor embankment 1d. The floor 12 and side Wall 14 are made of relativelycoarse concrete and the upper surface is finishedwith a waterproofingmaterial such as gunite to prevent leakage of the oil or volatile liquidto be held in the reservoir.

The reservoir cover 16 consists of a sheet of reinforced concrete whichis supported above the reservoir on a wooden structure. The cover andsupporting structure for the cover may be made entirely of concrete ormay be made of steel, but it is preferred that the cover be made ofconcrete since the con crete has a low heat conductivity,is fire proof,and is very resistant to the corrosive action of the oil vapors. Thecover 16 consists of a continuous slab of concrete which is reinforcedwith a sheet metal lath 18 and iron or steel rods 20 (see Figs. 3 and4). The

metal lath 18, known in the trade as hyrib, U

rests upon rafters 2?. andthe ribs of the metal lath are arrangedeircurnferentially of the reservoir. The reinforcing rods 20 rest ontopof the ribs of the lath l8 and are arranged substantially at rightangles to the ribs of the lath or radially of the reservoir.

In making the cover, the lath l8 and reinforcing rods are secured inposition and a concrete filling 2d poured over the lath 18 and rods 20to embed them in the reservoir cover. To make the cover vapor orgas-tight and water-tight, a layer of cement mortar 26 is spread overthe upper surface of the concrete 24. To protect the under face of themetal lath 18 and to securely embed the lath in the concrete slab, thelower face of the lath is coated with a layer of gunite 28 by means of aconcrete gun. The rafters 22 for supporting the cover rest upon girders3O 7 which are supported upon posts 32 mounted on piers 34 formed in thereservoir floor 12.

The reservoir cover is a continuous integral sheet of reinforcedconcrete having only a valved exhaust outlet and one or more openingsfor a winch and to permit access to the interior of the reservoir. Thereare no expansion joints in the cover and the reinforcing material keepsthe con- 'crete sheet from cracking as it undergoes expansion and.contraction. lVith a reservoir having a diameter of 300 to 400 feet, thelineal expansion at the mud-sill of the reservoirbasin for changes intemperature of 100 F. will be approximately 2 inches so that it isimpossible to have a fixed joint between the reservoir basin and thecover. The. cover is loosely mounted on the rim ormud-sill 36 of thereservoir basin to cover l6, the reinforced concrete cover slab isprovided with a downwardly projecting flange 40 which is positioned in agutter 42 surrounding the mud-sill 36. The flange 40 is made with a formto have substantially the same construction as the cover 16 and isunitedintegrally with the cover to give u vapor-tight structure. Thegutter is formed of reinforced concrete and made waterproof to holdwater for making a liquid seal between the cover and reservoir. Thewater seal between the cover and the .reservoir basin effectivelyprovide. for the expansion and contraction of the cover. A serles ofdrains 44 are placed at intervals in thegutter to keep the water of thegutter at a predetermined level and to conduct away water which may runinto the gutter from the cover 16.

The reinforced concrete cover will supporta comparatively heavy load sothat it may be covered with earth or other suitable heat insulatingmaterial to prevent tie oil in'the reservoir from becoming heatedsufficiently to cause evaporation. This form of construction further isvery effective in preventing evaporation in that the heat of the sunwill act only on the cover and the cover may be insulated suilicicntlyto prevent the oil in the reservoir from becoming heated high enough tocause an evaporation that will form a vapor pressure under the reservoircover. F or this reason the cover does not necessarily have to becapable of resisting a high pressure but only nccds to be suliicientlygas-tight to hold a vapor pressure which will prevent evaporation. Thecover, further, does not require the usual explosive doors because anexcessive pressure will break the water seal and allow the gas to escapearound the water seal flange 40.

To recapitulate, the invention provides :1 reservoir which has aliquid-tight basin and a gas-tight cover having a v: per-tight seal withthe basin, thus avoiding losses due to volatilization or evaporation.The structure, further, is effectively insulated from heat and thereforeholds evaporation to a minimum so that the cover does not have to beconstructed to withstand losses due to high gas pressures.

The preferred form of the invention having been thus described, what isclaimed as new 1s:

1. An oil storage reservoir having in combination, a reinforced concretebasin. :1 heat-insulating cover for said basin relatively very large andhaving wide limits of expansion and contraction. said cover being madeof a continuous. jointlcss sheet of reinforced concrete, and a 'apor-ligbt seal between said basin and cover comprising a fluid-tightconcrete gutter secured to the edge of said basin and having areinforccment therein connected with the concrete of the basin and areinforced i'onci'cic flange integral with said continuous coverextending into said gutter.

2. An oil storage reservoir having in (Ollibination, a reinforcedconcrete basin. a heatinsulating cover supported for free expansivemovement over said ba in made of a continuous, liointless sheet ofreinforcwl concrete having a downwardly cxtcnding integral flange builton rciniorccincnt int.- gral with said sheet rcinforccmenl. and :1vapor-seal between said cover and ba in comprising a liquid-tightconcrete gutter formed integral with the peripheral edge of said basinand arranged to receive said downwardly extending flange. said gutterbeing relatively large to permit said flange to move freely thereinunder expansion and contraction of said over.

3. An oil storage reservoir having in combination. a reinforced concretebas n. :1 heatinsulating cover supported for free expansive movementover said basin, a suppmrting frame mounted in said basin and arrangedfor expansive movement relatively thereto, a continuous, jointless bodyof reinforced concrete supported on said frame and arranged for freeexpansive movement relatively to said frame, and a vapor-seal betweensaid basin and cover comprising a comparatively Wide concrete gutterformed integrally With the peripheral edge of said basin and areinforced concrete flange inte- 10 grally formed With the peripheraledge of said cover and normally extending. oWn' into the central portionof said gutter.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

J. J. ALLINSON.

